Team-BHP - Snakes!

Found this guy at our new apartment in West Bangalore. Shot by somebody with smartphone camera using zoom - so it is not very clear. What snake is this? Looks too fat to be cobra or rat snake. Looks like the Russell's viper.

https://youtu.be/2r9_1l06ifw

A Python found in a chicken coop, after a feast, in a place near Palakkad. He had gorged himself on 16 hens and 4 ducks and decided to take a nap. The poor farmer was at a loss, literally.

news source > Malayala Manorama news of today

We had a cute little visitor near our washroom. A guy just caught it and took it to a far off place to leave it free.
Last time when its sibling came to our pantry, the security guy showed it to gates of heaven (I was late too stop him). Lucky for this time there were some other persons who also did want to protect it

Is it loo time for me

It seems to say, Who are you to dare to look at me?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas (Post 4618208)

That snake has a hood.

Me thinks Hood not Good.

Any means to confirm its not poisonous?

Buddy, that's undoubtedly a Cobra, and the hood is what confirms it. You can even see the hood in the first picture, even though it is not expanded. Also, it is venomous, not poisonous :)

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joxster (Post 4618234)

Buddy, that's undoubtedly a Cobra, and the hood is what confirms it. You can even see the hood in the first picture, even though it is not expanded. Also, it is venomous, not poisonous :)

Cheers

Venomous it is. :)

I would've lost consciousness seeing one of those, being situated close to a lot of greens I'm used to seeing Rat Snake but never have I seen one of these. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas (Post 4618208)

That snake has a hood.

Me thinks Hood not Good.

Any means to confirm its not poisonous?

That is cobra and it is quite common here. Even though it is quite small its hiss is quite loud for the size (it looks quite cute). If I'm not wrong this is my 3rd encounter in last 2 months (seen at close quarter like the photo), sadly only one survived due to the peoples tendency to kill it.
Once I had a similar guest in my house too which was caught and was told that it will released into some far-off place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kozhissery (Post 4618263)

That is cobra and it is quite common here.

Brought to mind an instance where I had gone to meet Kaleem Sir when he was at Trivandrum post his K2K ride.

While at a mutual friends house where Kaleem Sir was staying I spotted a snake in the compound and knew it was definitely not a Rat Snake, seeing me alarmed the Bullet Bikerni a.k.a Shiny who was basically from Trivandrum simply brushed it off saying that it was common to spot such snakes there and that they've got used to it.

That is all the while I was recovering from the minor heart attack from spotting the creepy crawly! lol:

Jokes apart, I'm currently living in Trivandrum in a rural area surrounded by dense greenery and every now and then I do contemplate my actions when a visitor would peep in through the ventilation hole and land on my bed.

Once while at Bangalore I'd been bitten by a rat whom I unknowingly kicked when it crawled into my bed, and the emotional trauma still remains. :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by kozhissery (Post 4618142)

We had a cute little visitor near our washroom. A guy just caught it and took it to a far off place to leave it free.

It is a spectacled cobra baby, named so because of a spectacle like pattern behind the hood. pretty common but highly venomous. Its one of the India's snake big four.

Stumbled upon this thread while going through the Shifting Gears forum. What a pleasant surprise! As an animal enthusiast and aspiring ecologist, always a treat to see like minded people :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_skyliner (Post 4617737)

This one was caught in my neighbour's garden yesterday:
Attachment 1891901

Can someone please help with the identification?

That is a Checkered Keelback. Non venomous but rather aggressive.

Also, one thing that did leave quite an unpleasant taste while going through the forum were the photos of snakes being handled directly with hands/being put into water cans/bottles, etc. As a rule, those methods of rescuing are looked down upon because they seriously stress out a snake and are also very dangerous to people, even if they're trained rescuers. As a rule, we never handle snakes directly unless we absolutely have to, and we always only store them in snake bags.

Hi Guys,

Would you be able to identify what kinda snake this is?

A fellow enthusiast sent it straight to heaven presuming it was venomous but a little more clarity would help as to prevent any such future altercations with non venomous creepy crawlies.

Looks like a rat snake. Venomous snake are easy to identify, considering there are only 4 major ones in India. If people learn to ID Krait & Vipers, rest is easy. No one will mistake Cobra and King Cobra to be anything else.